Chapter 256: 256: Revealing the past, Luo San’s identity (second update
“He killed soone, and I saw it,” she clutched Jiang Zhi’s hand, “He killed his wife.”
She rembered, rembered everything.
At seven, she asked He Xiangxiu, “Aunt Xiu, why do the Luo Family hate so much? My last na is Luo too.”
She taught herself to speak; she barely ever opened her mouth, her voice was strange, and her pronunciation odd.
That ti, He Xiangxiu scolded her and even hit her, then forbade her from speaking again. After scolding her, she found a pair of scissors and cut off all the hair that reached her ears.
“You’re not Luo San.”
He Xiangxiu said, “You have a na too.”
Luo San stamred, “What is my na?”
With reddened eyes, He Xiangxiu took a broom and began sweeping up the hair from the floor. “There’s a small town in Xiangnan called Xufang Town,” she said in a choked voice, looking down. “Your mom and your uncle ca from there.”
She paused for a very long ti.
She said, “Your last na is Zhou, after your mom, and your na is Zhou Xufang, Xu Fang from Xufang Town.”
The seven-year-old child, confused, asked, “Aunt Xiu, where are my mom and uncle then?”
He Xiangxiu did not respond.
Little Luo San reached out to pull her sleeve, “Where did they go? Why haven’t they co to pick up?”
She turned her head away, wiping her eyes, “They’re gone.”
Luo San didn’t understand and persisted, “What does ‘gone’ an?”
“Don’t ask anymore.”
He Xiangxiu shook off her hand and rummaged through a cabinet, pulling out a necklace—or rather, just a string with a piece of tal on it, which had so words engraved and signs of polishing.
He Xiangxiu hung the tal piece around her neck, “This was left by your mother. Keep it with you. If anyone asks who your mother is, pretend you know nothing. You have no na, no ho, and no mother or uncle, understand?”
The seven-year-old Luo San didn’t understand, but she excitedly thought that one day her mom and uncle would co for her, and take her back to her own ho.
“Rember, you mustn’t let anyone know you can talk, nor can they know you’re a girl.”
He Xiangxiu had repeated this warning to her many, many tis, but she always failed to rember.
Tang Guangji worked for the Luo Family, and back then, Mr. Luo was still hale and hearty. Tang Guangji stayed by the old man’s side and seldom returned to Ping Building.
In fact, Luo San didn’t spend much ti with him, but she liked him a lot. Even though he always seed to dislike her in front of others and would hit and yell at her, she still really liked him.
Back then, she envied Tang Xiang so much because she had such a good father.
Whenever Tang Guangji ca back, he would visit Tang Xiang first, and then co to the attic.
She would see him and be so happy, calling out with her rough voice, “Uncle Tang.”
Tang Guangji’s response was cold, “You’re talking again. If your Aunt Xiu hears this, she’ll hit you again.”
She smiled stupidly.
“Did the Second Miss hit you just now?”
Yes, she was hit with a rose.
She shook her head.
Tang Guangji took out a bottle from the back of his coat’s hood, “Use this dicine.”
She wanted to say she wasn’t in pain. She was a child with issues—while not being able to talk was a lie, not feeling pain was true.
“It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t hurt, you still have to apply it.” Tang Guangji pushed the bottle into her hands and left.
Holding the dicine bottle, she silently mouthed a thank you.
She was still young back then, but she understood that Tang Guangji was a good person, but his whole family was also under the Luo’s thumb, even his closest relatives worked for the Luo Family, dependent on them. He would always say, “Luo San, Uncle Tang can’t take care of you, you have to learn to survive on your own.”
She knew if Tang Guangji’s family was too nice to her, the Luo Family would be displeased, and if they were displeased, they would find ways to tornt her.
But Tang Guangji was just too kind-hearted, always unable to help but secretly treat her with kindness.
He Xiangxiu was the total opposite; she would often hit and scold her, but she would choose to hit where the flesh was thick, places that didn’t matter.
When Luo San was in her thirties, Tang Xiang was already at university, staying at school and seldom coming ho. The last ti she ca back, she taught her arithtic, and this ti, she taught her how to write.
“Luo San.” By then, Tang Xiang had grown very tall, unlike Luo San, who was skinny like a bean sprout. Tang Xiang gestured to her, “Co here.”
Luo San ran over with a bounce in her step.
Tang Xiang wrote two characters in a notebook and showed her, “This is your na, can you write it?”
She shook her head.
She could only grasp the most basic numbers, taught by He Xiangxiu during her leisure ti.
“What a blockhead,” Tang Xiang scolded while holding her hand and teaching her to write on the paper, “Start with the character ‘three,’ look carefully, just three strokes.”
Tang Xiang drew three strokes with her hand and asked, “Got it?”
Luo San imdiately nodded her head.
The orange cat lying under the table woke up and owed lazily. Luo San had found this cat at the Luo Family’s doorstep. He Xiangxiu disagreed with keeping it and threw it out several tis, but the cat kept coming back. Since she couldn’t deal with it, she just let it be. When Luo San found it, it was just a scrawny little kitten, and now it had grown plump from eating well because Aunt Liu from the kitchen liked it and often fed it.
But Aunt Liu didn’t like Luo San and never gave her any treats.
Luo San also nad the orange cat Luo Si. She pointed at the cat and drew four strokes on the paper.
Tang Xiang poked her forehead and called her a little idiot: “‘The character ‘four’ isn’t written like this.” She wrote the character ‘four’ beside the four strokes and said, “You copy it.”
She couldn’t write it well; it was crooked and twisted.
“You’re hopelessly stupid!”
Tang Xiang scolded her for being dumb while resignedly teaching her hand by hand.
After that, Tang Guangji would find so old books and secretly slip them under Luo San’s bed. She could now recognize many characters, but she wrote only a few, her hand disobedient, making writing a strenuous effort.
He Xiangxiu threw all the Luo Family’s unwanted newspapers, along with Tang Xiang’s old books, old notebooks, and old pens to her.
When Luo San wasn’t working, she would write and draw by herself. One ti, Luo Yinghe saw her.
“Pfft! Still trying to write.” Luo Yinghe threw her newspapers and pen on the ground and stepped on them, “You’re a retard; do you think you can even learn?”
Luo Yinghe and Luo San were born in the sa year, but Luo Yinghe was more than a head taller.
She particularly despised Luo San, thinking her lowly and shabby. Her voice filled with malice, she said, “Later, when my classmate cos, you’d better stay in the attic; don’t co out. If you disgust my guest, I’ll never forgive you.”
Luo San nodded and went to pick up the pen off the ground.
Luo Yinghe grabbed a watering can used for plants and threw it at her: “Stay away from ; you’re filthy!”
She was indeed filthy because she had to work in the greenhouse every day and also in the kitchen. The watering can was full of water, and when it hit her on the head, it soaked her bald scalp. Fortunately, it was plastic and didn’t damage her skull.
She picked up her things and stood farther away, out of Luo Yinghe’s sight.
“No wonder that crazy old lady says you and your uncle are just stinking beggars.”
The “crazy old lady” was Luo Qinghe’s mother.
Luo San looked up because she heard the words “uncle.”
Luo Yinghe kept cursing, “Your mom was a fox spirit.” She spat out the words maliciously, venting her anger, “You’re just a little fox spirit!”
Luo San just listened.
She wanted to hear more about her mom and uncle.
“Yinghe!” Xu Yunci ran in, interrupting, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Luo Yinghe snorted, “I’m not talking nonsense; Luo Qinghe’s mom said it when she was sick.”
Xu Yunci scolded her in a low voice and then said to Luo San, “Don’t just stand there, go outside.”
Luo San clutched her belongings and left.
That year, Luo Qinghe’s mother from the Xiao Family was very sick, suffering from severe depression and schizophrenia, with tendencies toward violence and even suicide.
For so reason, whenever Xiao Family saw Luo San, she would lose control of her emotions and beco ill. Perhaps because of this, Luo Qinghe was particularly hostile toward Luo San, troubling her in every way she could whenever she was free.
At that ti, the Luo Family’s perennial greenhouse was filled with blooming roses.
Ah Bin ca in and said, “Miss, I have called Luo San for you.”
Luo San approached timidly.
Luo Qinghe had Ah Bin leave and called Luo San closer, “See the flowers on the table?” Scattered on the table were freshly cut roses. Luo Qinghe instructed, “Pull all the thorns off for .”
Luo San reached for scissors.
“With your hands.” Luo Qinghe commanded, “Use your hands to pluck them.”
Luo San never fought back because resistance was futile and only led to more trouble. She bowed her head and went over, taking a rose in her hands and tearing off its thorns.
Rose thorns were hard to pluck, and after several pricks, her fingertips started to bleed.
Luo Qinghe, holding a book with her tea nearby, dressed in an expensive and pretty dress said, “You’re so slow, didn’t you eat?”
Indeed, she hadn’t eaten yet. Aunt Xiu was out, and Aunt Liu from the kitchen had thrown out all the leftovers. She was just drinking water and was now very hungry.
She glanced at Luo Qinghe cautiously and continued pulling thorns.
“What are you looking at? Cursing in your heart?” Luo Qinghe set down her cup. She was the lofty young miss, flamboyant and proud, “To others, you claim to be the adopted child, but you really think of yourself as part of the Luo Family. You’re nothing but a bastard, just lucky you were born the right sex.”
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